100 Years of Rent Control in Sweden

Bet On It reader Vanja Månborg knows a lot about rent control in Sweden. If you think Sweden is a country of thoughtful technocrats where government intervention works well, reading his guest post may make you think again. Here’s Vanja:Sweden has had rent control regulations since 1917 with less than two decades of pause between…

100 Years of Rent Control in Sweden

Some Chinese electric cars are ‘almost uninsurable’ in Britain

By Paul Homewood   h/t Patsy Lacey       Owners of some of the latest Chinese electric cars to enter Britain are facing expensive premiums and in some cases are ‘almost uninsurable’ for drivers. It comes after various reports of Range Rover owners struggling to find affordable cover for their vehicles, which is linked […]

Some Chinese electric cars are ‘almost uninsurable’ in Britain

Sobering Up? EU May Scrap Its Plans To Ban Internal Combustion Engines By 2035

The EU plans to reassess the phase-out of combustion engines, based on the latest data and developments.

Sobering Up? EU May Scrap Its Plans To Ban Internal Combustion Engines By 2035

Reading deal – rare media bouquet

Both Matt Nippert of the NZ Herald and Tom Hunt of The Post deserve a bouquet for their analyses of the truly remarkable deal between the Wellington City Council (WCC) and the troubled American Cinema company Reading. For this who don’t know, Reading owns a large (more than 14, 000 square metres or 1.4 hectares) […]

Reading deal – rare media bouquet

Tama Potaka brings te reo into play in Parliament while avoiding giving guarantees about numbers of homeless

************************* The biographical notes about Tama Potaka on the National Party website suggest he should be able to eloquently answer a Parliamentary question. He has had a diverse career across legal, public service, education, advisory, tribes, investment, charities and enterprise.  He was the chief executive of Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki prior to entering politics. He […]

Tama Potaka brings te reo into play in Parliament while avoiding giving guarantees about numbers of homeless

Using procurement for political ends gives you worse prices.

Over 20 years ago, some middling economists (cite) estimated that the Small Business Set-Aside program reduced Forest Service Timber prices by 15%.  By limiting the potential pool of available bidders to only smaller lumber mills, you get less competition and worse prices. Now San Francisco is re-learning that lesson.  In 2016, it refused to do…

Using procurement for political ends gives you worse prices.

Sick Joke: Nothing ‘Green’ About California’s All Electric Vehicle Mandates

There’s nothing wrong in theory about all-Electric Vehicles. But, if they really were a sensible substitute for petrol or diesel-powered vehicles, they’d already be jumping off the shelves. Except, for some strange reason, they aren’t. There’s plenty of irony attached to the all-EV cult: the world’s largest EV charging station is run entirely using diesel […]

Sick Joke: Nothing ‘Green’ About California’s All Electric Vehicle Mandates

Even Lowerer Hutt

One annoying thing about writing a Saturday column for the Stuff papers is never knowing whether a piece will show up in print.I’d thought this one was a banger. I’ll be talking about related issues tomorrow night as part of a panel for A City for People. 🟨🟪 Our speaker line up has dropped! 🟪🟨Join us on…

Even Lowerer Hutt

Gaelic Price Control

Here is a nice video on the experience with price control in Ireland and Scotland.  Hat tip: Marginal Revolution

Gaelic Price Control

DON BRASH: PERHAPS THE MOST IMPORTANT SPEECH FROM THE NEW GOVERNMENT SO FAR

Last week, Housing Minister Chris Bishop gave perhaps the most important speech by the new Government since the election.   In a speech to the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, he said he wanted the ratio of house prices to median household income to more than halve to between 3 and 5 over the next 10…

DON BRASH: PERHAPS THE MOST IMPORTANT SPEECH FROM THE NEW GOVERNMENT SO FAR

The Uncompetitive Urban Land Markets Theory of Everything

The Housing Theory of Everything has one of those wonderful self-explanatory titles. A good title matters. The recent and thorough essay explains how the anglosphere’s unnecessarily expensive housing affects, well, everything. Or at least almost everything.Zoning makes it too hard to build houses where people want to build. Urban containment policies block new subdivisions, so…

The Uncompetitive Urban Land Markets Theory of Everything

The US Housing Market Is Very Quickly Becoming Unaffordable

In a post from July 2021, I discussed housing affordability and “zoning taxes” — in other words, how land use restrictions such as zoning were driving up the cost of housing in some US cities. San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, and New York stood out as the clear outliers, with “zoning taxes” adding several multiples […]

The US Housing Market Is Very Quickly Becoming Unaffordable

Statewide Rent Control Being Considered in Washington

Five things to know about WA proposal to limit rent hikes | The Seattle Times Isn’t rent control one of the most studied economic experiments? And hasn’t it been shown to be, over the long term, a disaster for everyone involved? What does economic evidence tell us about the effects of rent control? | Brookings […]

Statewide Rent Control Being Considered in Washington

Professional Sports and the Lack of Local Economic Payoffs

I’m a sports fan, which in this case may represent a conflict of interest, because it means I’m conflicted about public subsidies going to sports stadiums. The economic evidence on this point is pretty clear: such subsidies can transfer how people spend their entertainment dollars from one area of a city to another, but the net…

Professional Sports and the Lack of Local Economic Payoffs

Lord Goldsmith given driving ban for four speeding offences – after backing 20mph limit

By Paul Homewood   h/t Ian Magness   Some things you could not make up!   https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/01/11/zac-goldsmith-banned-driving-caught-speeding/

Lord Goldsmith given driving ban for four speeding offences – after backing 20mph limit

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